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knave

 - 7 dictionary results

knave

  [neyv]
Use knave in a Sentence
–noun
1. an unprincipled, untrustworthy, or dishonest person.
2. Cards. jack 1 (def. 2).
3. Archaic.
a. a male servant.
b. a man of humble position.
Origin:
bef. 1000; ME; OE cnafa; c. G Knabe boy; akin to ON knapi page, boy

Synonyms:
1. blackguard, villain, scamp, scapegrace. Knave, rascal, rogue, scoundrel are disparaging terms applied to persons considered base, dishonest, or worthless. Knave, which formerly meant merely a boy or servant, in modern use emphasizes baseness of nature and intention: a dishonest and swindling knave. Rascal suggests shrewdness and trickery in dishonesty: a plausible rascal. A rogue is a worthless fellow who sometimes preys extensively upon the community by fraud: photographs of criminals in a rogues' gallery. A scoundrel is a blackguard and rogue of the worst sort: a thorough scoundrel. Rascal and rogue are often used affectionately or humorously (an entertaining rascal; a saucy rogue), but knave and scoundrel are not.

Antonyms:
hero.

jack

1  [jak]
–noun
1. any of various portable devices for raising or lifting heavy objects short heights, using various mechanical, pneumatic, or hydraulic methods.
2. Also called knave. Cards. a playing card bearing the picture of a soldier or servant.
3. Electricity. a connecting device in an electrical circuit designed for the insertion of a plug.
4. (initial capital letter) Informal. fellow; buddy; man (usually used in addressing a stranger): Hey, Jack, which way to Jersey?
5. Also called jackstone. Games.
a. one of a set of small metal objects having six prongs, used in the game of jacks.
b. one of any other set of objects, as pebbles, stones, etc., used in the game of jacks.
c. jacks, (used with a singular verb) a children's game in which small metal objects, stones, pebbles, or the like, are tossed, caught, and moved on the ground in a number of prescribed ways, usually while bouncing a rubber ball.
6. any of several carangid fishes, esp. of the genus Caranx, as C. hippos (crevalle jack or jack crevalle), of the western Atlantic Ocean.
7. Slang. money: He won a lot of jack at the races.
8. Slang: Vulgar.. jack shit.
9. Nautical.
a. a small flag flown at the jack staff of a ship, bearing a distinctive design usually symbolizing the nationality of the vessel.
b. Also called jack crosstree. either of a pair of crosstrees at the head of a topgallant mast, used to hold royal shrouds away from the mast.
10. (initial capital letter) a sailor.
11. a lumberjack.
12. applejack.
13. jack rabbit.
14. a jackass.
15. jacklight.
16. a device for turning a spit.
17. a small wooden rod in the mechanism of a harpsichord, spinet, or virginal that rises when the key is depressed and causes the attached plectrum to strike the string.
18. Lawn Bowling. a small, usually white bowl or ball used as a mark for the bowlers to aim at.
19. Also called clock jack. Horology. a mechanical figure that strikes a clock bell.
20. a premigratory young male salmon.
21. Theater. brace jack.
22. Falconry. the male of a kestrel, hobby, or esp. of a merlin.
–verb (used with object)
23. to lift or move (something) with or as if with a jack (usually fol. by up): to jack a car up to change a flat tire.
24. Informal. to increase, raise, or accelerate (prices, wages, speed, etc.) (usually fol. by up).
25. Informal. to boost the morale of; encourage (usually fol. by up).
26. to jacklight.
–verb (used without object)
27. to jacklight.
–adjective
28. Carpentry. having a height or length less than that of most of the others in a structure; cripple: jack rafter; jack truss.
—Verb phrase
29. jack off, Slang: Vulgar. to masturbate.
—Idiom
30. every man jack, everyone without exception: They presented a formidable opposition, every man jack of them.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME jakke, Jakke used in addressing any male, esp. a social inferior, var. of Jakken, var. of Jankin, equiv. to Jan John + -kin -kin; extended in sense to anything male, and as a designation for a variety of inanimate objects
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To knave
jack   (jāk)   
n.  

  1. often Jack Informal A man; a fellow.

    1. One who does odd or heavy jobs; a laborer.

    2. One who works in a specified manual trade. Often used in combination: a lumberjack; a steeplejack.

    3. Jack A sailor; a tar.

    4. jacks (used with a sing. or pl. verb) A game played with a set of small six-pointed metal pieces and a small ball, the object being to pick up the pieces in various combinations.

    5. One of the metal pieces so used.

    6. A usually portable device for raising heavy objects by means of force applied with a lever, screw, or hydraulic press.

    7. A wooden wedge for cleaving rock.

    8. A support or brace, especially the iron crosstree on a topgallant masthead.

    9. A small flag flown at the bow of a ship, usually to indicate nationality.

  3. Abbr. J Games A playing card showing the figure of a servant or soldier and ranking below a queen. Also called knave.

  4. Games

    1. jacks (used with a sing. or pl. verb) A game played with a set of small six-pointed metal pieces and a small ball, the object being to pick up the pieces in various combinations.

    2. One of the metal pieces so used.

    3. A usually portable device for raising heavy objects by means of force applied with a lever, screw, or hydraulic press.

    4. A wooden wedge for cleaving rock.

    5. A support or brace, especially the iron crosstree on a topgallant masthead.

    6. A small flag flown at the bow of a ship, usually to indicate nationality.

  5. Sports A pin used in some games of bowling.

    1. A usually portable device for raising heavy objects by means of force applied with a lever, screw, or hydraulic press.

    2. A wooden wedge for cleaving rock.

    3. A support or brace, especially the iron crosstree on a topgallant masthead.

    4. A small flag flown at the bow of a ship, usually to indicate nationality.

  7. A device used for turning a spit.

  8. Nautical

    1. A support or brace, especially the iron crosstree on a topgallant masthead.

    2. A small flag flown at the bow of a ship, usually to indicate nationality.

  9. The male of certain animals, especially the ass.

  10. Any of several food and game fishes of the family Carangidae, found in tropical and temperate seas.

  11. A jackrabbit.

  12. A socket that accepts a plug at one end and attaches to electric circuitry at the other.

  13. Slang Money.

  14. Applejack.

  15. Slang A small or worthless amount: You don't know jack about that.

v.   jacked, jack·ing, jacks

v.   tr.

  1. To hunt or fish for with a jacklight: hunters illegally jacking deer.

    1. To move or hoist by or as if by using a jack: jacked the rear of the car to replace the tire.

    2. To raise (something) to a higher level, as in cost: "Foreign producers jacked up the price on some steels by over 100%" (Forbes).

  3. Baseball To hit (a pitched ball) hard, especially for a home run.

v.   intr.
To hunt or fish for quarry by using a jacklight.
Phrasal Verb(s):
jack off Vulgar Slang To masturbate.

[From the name Jack, from Middle English Jakke, possibly from Old French Jacques, from Late Latin Iacōbus; see Jacob. N., sense 15, short for jack shit.]
jack'er n.
knave   (nāv)   
n.  

  1. An unprincipled, crafty fellow.

    1. A male servant.

    2. A man of humble birth.

  3. Games See jack.


[Middle English, from Old English cnafa, boy, male servant.]
knav'ish adj., knav'ish·ly adv., knav'ish·ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
jack (sth)

  1. tv.
    to raise the price of something. : They kept jacking the price up with various charges, so I walked.
  2. tv.
    to mess something up. : Who jacked up the papers on my desk?
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

Jack 
masc. proper name, 1218, probably an Anglicization of O.Fr. Jacques (which was a dim. of L. Jacobus, see Jacob), but in Eng. the name always has been associated with Johan, Jan "John," and some have argued that it is a native formation. Alliterative coupling of Jack and Jill is from 15c. (Ienken and Iulyan). As a generic name addressed to an unknown stranger, it is attested from 1889 in Amer.Eng. Used especially of sailors (1659; Jack-tar is from 1781).

knave 
O.E. cnafa "boy, male servant," common Gmc. (cf. O.H.G. knabo "boy, youth, servant," Ger. knabe "boy, lad," also probably related to O.E. cnapa "boy, youth, servant," O.N. knapi "servant boy," Du. knaap "a youth, servant," M.H.G. knappe "a young squire," Ger. Knappe "squire, shield-bearer"). The original meaning may have been "stick, piece of wood." Sense of "rogue, rascal" first recorded c.1205. In playing cards, "the jack," 1568.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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